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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1987)
Friday, February 13, 1987/The Battalion/Page 7 § : n.: • r ‘ t ar; » it wi ai Photo by Dean Saito Tunnel Vision Gary Loh, a junior accounting major from Houston, gets some exer cise by running up and down some ramps Wednesday afternoon. The ramps are located under the stadium that houses Kyle Field. Texas bill focuses on businesses that ‘fix’ credit ratings AUSTIN (AP) — Two lawmakers Thursday filed a bill aimed at “credit repair clinics” that offer to help Tex ans troubled by bad credit records. “There is nothing they can offer that you can’t do on your own through existing law,” Rep. Barry Connelly, R-Houston, said. The measure introduced by Con nelly and Rep. M.A. Taylor, R- Waco, would require credit clinics to disclose what they can and cannot do, including what services they pro vide that consumers can get else where at no charge. The law also would prohibit credit clinics from collecting fees before services are performed unless a bond is posted to guarantee refunds for dissatisfied customers. Connelly said the bill probably would put many credit clinics out of business. “They are one of those gray-area services,” he said. “They sound like they are on the side of good, but in stead, they are selling services that other laws require to be given for free or at very little cost.” Taylor said federal law gives con sumers the right to see their credit records compiled by credit bureaus at no charge. He said there is “no need to pay hundreds of dollars to some slick operator for this advice.” The state provides credit counsel ing for free, Taylor said. Connelly said the for-profit credit clinics offer the impossible. “In many cases, the people they are attracting are people who hon estly have a bad credit history,” he said. “The only way it is going to be repaired is to live a life of clean credit habits. It is not going to be cleaned by these people sending them a brochure or a pamphlet or something giving them advice they could get by simply walking into a consumer reporting agency or into a non-profit credit counseling serv ice.” He said the bill also would apply to businesses that offer assistance in obtaining credit cards for people with bad credit histories. In those cases, the customers sometimes pay for merely a list of out-of-state banks that will issue credit cards if the applicant backs it with money in a bank account. Credit repair clinics and other services operate in many Texas cit ies. Several advertised in Thursday editions of Dallas newspapers. A company that advertises as DCA ran an ad saying, “No Credit? Get major bank credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard.” Don Capra, who answered a call to DCA’s Car rollton phone listing said that con sumers can apply for the cards with out going through him, but that he is providing a service. “A person could get a divorce for free, out people pay lawyers for their help,” Capra said. Official: Nuclear plant measures overstated FORT WORTH (AP) — A federal official apparently overstated emer gency measures taken due to secu rity breaches at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant near Amarillo, En ergy Department spokesmen said. Edward Badolato, deputy assis tant energy secretary for security af fairs in Washington, reported at a House investigations committee hearing in March 1985 that the Pan tex plant was shut down for five days Texas prisons remain closed after releases HUNTSVILLE (AP) — Texas prisons turned out more than 100 inmates Thursday, but the pris oner population remained too high to admit any new convicts, a spokesman said. For the third time in a month, the prison system closed Thurs day because the inmate popula tion surpassed a state-mandated 95-percent capacity. The admis sions center would remain closed Friday, said Charles Brown, a spokesman for the Texas Depart ment of Corrections. As of midnight Wednesday, the inmate population totaled 38,675, or 95.76 percent of ca pacity, Brown said, which is 306 inmates too many. after a surprise security inspection. Excerpts from the closed hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee were released this week. Tom Walton, an Energy Depart ment spokesman assigned to Pantex, said Wednesday that only an area along the weapons production line was closed, not the entire facility, as Badolato testified. “The first thing that happened was that the entire Pantex operation AUSTIN (AP) — A Houston-area school superintendent testified Thursday that financing changes in the 1984 school reform act helped his district, but did not bring it in line with other Harris County schools. “There is still wide disparity among schools in Harris County, and we have a very high tax rate,” said John Sawyer, superintendent at North Forest. Austin attorney Jim Turner asked on cross-examination if it was not true North Forest “made greater progress in financing in 1984 than any other district in Harris County?” “Yes, but there is still a substantial gap,” Sawyer replied. Sawyer was a witness for the 67 school districts that claim House Bill 72 financing discriminates against was shut down,” Badolato was quoted as saying in the transcript. Washington Energy Department spokesman Wolfgang H. Rosenberg said he does not think Badolato meant to use the word “entire” when referring to a shutdown at the plant. “It’s my supposition that in a burst of enthusiasm, that word (entire) got in there,” Rosenberg told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A surprise inspection in October low-wealth districts. Turner is an at torney for a group of the 48 districts that have sided with the state in claiming the 1984 changes are fair and legal. The trial began Jan. 20. Some of the attorneys predict it will last until mid-March. Rick Gray, an attorney for the low-wealth districts, said the plain tiffs still have five or six more wit nesses to present. Turner showed figures that 15 of the 20 schools in Harris County re ceived more money as a result of HB72, while five schools with larger tax collections lost state money. Turner spent much of his cross- examination comparing North For est with the adjoining Aldine school district. Sawyer said that North Forest 1985 found evidence of civilian guards engaging in sex while on duty and a screening system that al lowed an “insider” to smuggle a pis tol and silencer into the plant. The pistol later was used “in a suc cessful attempt to steal bomb parts containing plutonium,” the commit tee chairman, Rep. John Dingell, D- Mich., said in the transcript’s open ing. spends $2,244 per student per year while Aldine spends $1,750 per stu dent. He also agreed that Aldine pays an average teacher salary that is $600 a year higher than North For est—$23,441 to $22,841. Turner presented figures show ing that North Forest has 4.1 admin istrators per 1,000 students, com pared with 3.1 per 1,000 at Aldine. He said North Forest has 6.7 staff support staff compared with 5.7 at Aldine, and North Forest has 9.6 teacher aides per 1,000 students, compared with 6.6 at Aldine. “We have more high-cost kids at North Forest, and it costs more to educate them than at Aldine,” Sa wyer said. “We have to have differ ent-type teachers and different-size classes.” School financing changes inadequate, official claims Summer Jobs Interviews for Summer positions will be held Mon. February 16 MSC Rooms 226-230 9:00 am-4:00 pm Recruiters from 30-40 camps will be on campus to interview students seeking jobs in summer camps. 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